DESCRIPTION

Two very different movies for you this weekend, we have the surefire blockbuster “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and the surefire Oscar contender, “Nebraska.” In “Catching Fire,” the sequel to the popular franchise based on the books by Suzanne Collins, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence returns to the role of Katniss Everdeen along with Josh Hutcherson who also returns to the role of Peeta Mellark. This time, political subtext is at the heart of the film with President Snow (Donald Sutherland) acting as the film’s antagonist. Directed by Francis Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Liam Hemsworth co-star.

In “Nebraska,” great storyteller Alexander Payne (“Sideways,” “The Descendants”) takes a look at Americana with Bruce Dern’s Woody in the center of it all. He’s an aging, dementia-addled man who believes he won a million bucks from publisher’s clearinghouse, so he takes his son (played by Will Forte) on a journey from Montana to Nebraska in hopes of cashing in. June Squibb steals the show as Woody’s wife.

So which one is my pick of the week? Take a look: